Jets grounded by Massapequa

The East Meadow football team had its season ended last Saturday for a second straight year by Massapequa in the opening round of the Nassau Conference I playoffs.

The third-seeded Chiefs jumped out to a 21-point halftime lead en route to a convincing 56-21 victory over the sixth-seeded Jets at Massapequa High School. Massapequa, which also defeated East Meadow in the 2012 quarterfinals by a 43-29 score, advanced to meet No. 2 Oceanside in the Conference I semifinals to be held at Hofstra University’s Shuart Stadium this Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

East Meadow (4-5) led Massapequa 40-35 during the teams’ regular-season meeting on Sept. 21 before falling 48-40, but on Saturday the Jets were unable to muster enough offense to hang with the explosive Chiefs.

“We just didn’t do enough things well today to be able to win,” said East Meadow head coach Vinny Mascia, who in 2011 guided the Jets to a county championship. “We didn’t get enough done.”

A bright spot for East Meadow in the season-ending defeat was junior fullback John Wilson, whose 5-yard touchdown run with 9:29 left in the third quarter cut Massapequa’s lead to 28-7. Wilson also converted a successful fake punt in the first quarter when he took a direct snap on a 4th-and-5 and set the Jets up at midfield during a drive that eventually stalled at the Massapequa 20-yard line. 

“He did some good things out there,” said Mascia of Wilson. 

East Meadow’s other points Saturday included a 37-yard touchdown run by senior wingback Nick Suchocki and a 10-yard scoring run from freshman quarterback Anthony Love. 

Massapequa’s offensive attack was led by senior wide receiver Craig Berge, who hauled in three touchdown passes to go along with 83 receiving yards. Berge’s 7-yard touchdown grab with 7:29 left in the first quarter gave Massapequa the lead to stay. He also caught a 40-yard scoring reception on a 2nd-and-22 play midway through the second quarter that gave the Chiefs a 14-0 lead. 

“We had a great game plan,” said Berge, who is slated to play lacrosse at Georgetown next year. “We prepared hard all week.” 

“They have a lot of talent,” Mascia said of Massapequa. “We didn’t do enough things well today to be able to win.”  

Saturday’s loss ended an up and down season for East Meadow that was hampered by key injuries including senior fullback Billy Andrle, who won last year’ Thorp award for the top player in Nassau County. The Jets have 24 underclassmen on their roster and Mascia is hoping the experienced gain this season will pay positive dividends in 2014.

“We’ve got a lot of young kids that I think can do some good things as we move forward,” he said. “That is depending on how hard they are going to work.” 

Despite having 2013 campaign end on a sour note, Mascia said he is proud of how his team competed and fought through challenges.

“The kids did a great job overcoming adversity with injuries,” he said. “I thought the kids really hung in there and did a heck of a job.”